Apparatus for truing out-of-round can bodies



' Jul 3, 1951 Filed Nov. 8, 1947 J. DRYGULSKI 2,558,741

APPARATUS FOR TRUING OUT-OFROUND CAN BODIES 5 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNYS July 3, 1951 J. DRYGULSK] APPARATUS FOR TRUING OUT-OF-ROUND CAN BODIES Filed Nov. 8, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY J. DRYGULSKI 2,558,741

APPARATUS FOR TRUING OUT-OF-ROUND CAN BODIES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 3, 1951 Filed Nov. 8, 1947 INVENTOR ATTORN'EYS Patented July 3, 1951 APPARATUS FOR TRUING OUT-OF-ROUND CAN BODIES John Drygulski, Hillside, N. J assignor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 8, 1947, Serial No. 784,921 Claims (01. 153-32 The present invention relates to apparatus for truing container or can bodies and has particular reference to rounding-up cylindrical can bodies which have been deformed into an out-of-round condition during handling.

In the handling of cylindrical cans preparatory I to filling them with a product,.the open end of the cans sometimes become bent into an oval or otherwise out-of-round condition and thus prevents proper fitting and sealing of the covers onto the cans after filling. This is partly due to the fact that the open end of the can is not as strong and rigid as its bottom, because the bottom of the can is reenforced by the end closure member which is secured thereto. Such out-of-rbund cans when encountered in a batch of round cans being fed automatically into the customary filling and sealing machines are the source of considerable trouble since they jam and sometimes cause damage to the machines when the covers cannot be properly fitted into place and secured to the cans.

The present invention contemplates overcoming this difficulty by the provision ofapparatus for reforming out-of-round cans into a properly rounded or trued condition preparatory to filling I and sealing.

An object of theinvention is the provision of apparatus for truing cans wherein the cans are rotated while pressure is applied to'the distorted portion of the cans for reforming them to a truely rounded condition so that the covers of the cans will properly fit into place on the cans after fill- 'ing so as to insure proper sealing of the cans.

invention will be apparent as it is-better undera stood from the following description, which taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying the instant invention, with parts broken away; 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, with parts broken away;

Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged sectional details of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 and showing a can in place, Fig. 4 showing the can before being reformed into a true rounded condition, and Fig. 3 showing the can after being reformed;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation of a modified form of the apparatus disclosed in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of the modified form of apparatus, the view showing an out-of-round can in place in the apparatus for truing.

As a preferred embodiment of the instant invention the drawings illustrate apparatus for truing out-of-round cylindrical sheet metal containers or cans A comprising a tubular body B (Figs. 3 and4) having a bottom C secured thereto at one end in a suitable end seam D and having its opposite end open and formed with a flange E for the reception of a cover after the container is filled with a product. In truing these out-of-round cans, the cans are rotated on their longitudinal axes and while so rotated, pressure is exerted diametrically against their outof-round portion. This pressure squeezes a can along its major diametrical axis, slightly beyond its elastic limit and thereby causes the can to take a permanent set substantially equal to the true diameter of the can.

In the drawings, Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 illustrate a preferred form of apparatus for truing out-ofround can bodies. This apparatus includes a pair of spaced and parallel wheels which constitute a driving wheel I l and a truing wheel I 2, which are formed on a hub I 3 mounted on a driving shaft M journaled in bearings [5 carried in a pair of spaced and parallel upright frame members it which extend up from a'base plate ll. The wheels H, [2 on their outer peripheries carry a resilient tread l8 made of rubber, leather, or other suitable material for frictionally engaging against a can A to be rotated and trued. This tread may be sunk into a groove H9 in the circumference of the wheels H, i2 as shown in the drawings, if desired. The wheels ll, l2 are continuously rotated, through the shaft [4, in any suitable manner in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1.

Adjacent the outer periphery of the wheels II, I 2 the apparatus is provided with a pair of spaced and parallel curved stationary rails which constitute a driving rail 22 and a truing rail 23,

, of their diameters. The space between the curved inner face of the driving rail 22 and the outer circumference of the resilient tread l8 on the driving wheel II is slightly less than the outer diameter of the end seam D of a can A to be trued so that a can introduced between the wheel and its rail 22 will fit tightly.

The space between the curved inner face of the truing rail 23 and the outer circumference of the resilient tread IS on the truing wheel I2 is slight-.- ly less than the outer diameter of the body B of a can A to be trued, this space being concentric with the space between the wheel II and its rail 22, the two spaces having coincident .curved roenter lines.

At their upper ends, the curved truing rails 22, 23 are secured to the upright frame members [6 and project outwardly at an angle beyond these members and thus provide upper inlet chute rails 25 for the introduction of cans A into the apparatus. The chute is completed by a pairof spaced and parallel lower chute rails 26 which are .disposed in spaced and parallel relation with the upper chute rails 25 and which are secured to these rails and to the frame members l6. Adjacent the lower ends of the frame members l5, s the truing rails 22, 23 terminate in an outwardly driving and truing rails 22, 23, with theend seam D of thecans entering between the driving wheel H and its rail 22. The resilient tread l8 on the driving wheel ll frictionally engages against the end seam D of an incoming can and thus presses the seam tightly against the driving rail 22 (see 'Figs. 3 and 4).

Hence as the driving wheel Ii rotates, it also rotates the can and rolls it along the driving rail 22 with the longitudinal axis of the can in a substantially horizontal position. The driving wheel II and its driving rail 22 thus rotate and roll the body of the can through the space between the truing wheel l2 and its cooperating truing rail 23 (see Fig. 4).

During the rotation of the bodies B of the cans -A through the truing space between the truing wheel l2 and the truing rail 23, the major -diametrical axis of the body of an out-of-round can X is squeezed adjacent the body flange E between the truing .wheel and the truing rail to such an extent that the metal of the out-ofround body passes its elastic limit and thereby acquires a permanent set. In this manner, an out-of-round can body as it traverses the truing rail 22 while being rotated is reformed or renal shape and is thus in acondition for the reception of its product and a cover. This condition obtains when the can reaches the terminal ends of the driving rail 22 and the truing rail 23 and the can thereupon rolls down the discharge tracks 28 to any suitable place of deposit.

During this travel through the apparatus the cans A are confined against endwise displacement, by guide bars 29 which are disposed atopposite ends of the cans and extend adjacent the path of travel of the cans through the apparatus.

turned to a substantially true diameLer or origia resilient tread 36 (Fi 6), a continuously rotatecltruing wheel 3! having a resilient tread 38, a ,pair of idler support or pressure rollers 39 disposed opposite the driving wheel 35 and a set of three truing rollers 40 disposed opposite the truing wheel 31. The support rollers 39 are mounted on short pressure shafts 39 and the truing rollers 40 are mounted on short truing shafts 32, The

shafts 39 and 42 are carried in bearings 53 formed on a vertically movable slide 44 which operates in a slide block 45 having a slideway for the slide. The slide block may be a part of the frame of the apparatus. The slide is shifted periodically in any suitable manner for the entranceof a can A into position between the wheels and the rollers and for discharge therefrom.

The driving wheel 35 and the truing wheel 31 preferably are formed as in the preferred form of the invention, on a hub [3 which is mounted on and rotated by a continuously rotating shaft I4. While in the apparatus the cans are retained against endwise displacement by the guide bars 29.

Hence when a can A is in position for truing, the end seam D of the can is in engagement with the resilient tread 36 of the driving wheel :35 and the two support or pressure rollers '33 while the body B of the container extends into the space between the tread 38 on the truing wheel 3! and the three truing rollers 45. Thus, as in the preferred form of the invention, the can is rotated on its longitudinal axis by the driving wheel 35 while the major diametrical axis of the body 13 adjacent its flange E is squeezed between the truing wheel 31 and the truing rollers 40, to the extent of reforming the body into a true round condition and creating a permanent set in the metal of the body to retain this trued shape.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant-advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, constructiomand arrangement of parts of the apparatus mentioned herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all ofits material advantages, the apparatus having a bottom secured to one end in a circular end seam and havingits other end open and terminating in a flange, the combination of .a rotatable driving wheel having a resilient tread thereon engageable with the circular end seam of said container, a rotatable truing wheel disposed adjacent said driving wheel and'havinga resilient tread thereon engageable against the body of said container adjacent its terminal flange, and means disposed opposite each of said wheels for maintaining said container in engagement with said driving wheel for rotating said container on its longitudinal axis and for compressing the outof-round portion of said container adjacent its terminal flange against said truing wheel in the direction of its major diametrical aXis for imparting thereto a permanent set substantially that of the true diameter of the container for reforming the out-of-round flanged container into a truly round container.

2. An apparatus for truing the body walls of out-of-round sheet metal cylindrical containers having circular bottoms, comprising in combination a circular driving rail, a rotatable driving wheel disposed concentric with and in spaced relation to said driving rail for engaging and for rolling the circular bottom of a container along said circular rail, a circular truing rail spaced from said driving rail for engagement with a top open end of said container, and a rotatable truing wheel disposed concentric with and in spaced relation to said truing rail for engaging the body wall adjacent the open end of said rolling container and for pressing the body wall against said truing rail beyond the elastic limit of the material of the container and in the direction of it major diametrical axis to reform the out-of-round container into a round container.

3. An apparatus for truing the body wall of out-of-round sheet metal cylindrical containers having circular bottoms, comprising in combination a circular driving rail, a rotatable driving Wheel disposed concentric with and in spaced relation to said driving rail, a circular truing rail disposed adjacent said driving rail for engagement with the open top end of a container, a rotatable truing wheel disposed concentric with and in spaced relation to said truing rail, and means for rotating said driving wheel and said truing wheel in unison said driving wheel rotating the container on its longitudinal axis by rolling its circular bottom along said driving rail and said truing wheel simultaneously pressing the out-of-round body wall of the rolling container adjacent its open end against said truing rail to compress the out-of-round portion of the body wall beyond the elastic limit of the material of the container to impart a permanent set and to reform it into a round container.

4. An apparatus for truing the body walls of sheet metal cylindrical containers having round bottoms and out-of-round open ends, comprising in combination, stationary means constituting a track for rolling containers, said track consisting of a pair of parallel track sections spaced apart a distance approximately the height of said container, rolling means located adjacent said track and having movement parallel to the track for engaging against the periphery of the round bottom of the container to press said bottom against one of said track sections to rotate the container on its longitudinal axis, and pressure means located adjacent said track and having movement along the track for engaging the wall of the rotating container adjacent its open end to pres the container against the second track section to squeeze the out-of-round portion in the direction of the major diametrical axis of the out-of-round container to impart a permanent set substantially that of the true diameter of the container.

5. An apparatus for truing the body wall of an out-of-round sheet metal cylindrical container having a circular bottom secured to one end in a circular end seam, comprising in combination a rotatable drive shaft, a driving wheel mounted on said shaft for engaging peripherally the circular end seam of a container to be trued, a rotatable truing wheel also mounted on said drive shaft adjacent said driving wheel and engageable with the container adjacent an open end thereof including the out-of-round portion of said container, pressure and truing shafts mounted beyond the periphery of said driving and truing wheels parallel to said drive shaft, pressure rollers mounted on said pressure shafts in alignment with said driving wheel for pressing a container in engagement with said driving wheel for rotating said container on its longitudinal axis, truing rollers mounted on said truing shafts in alignment with said truing wheel for pressing the container against said truing wheel to exert pressure on the out-of-round portion of said container sufficient to impart to the body wall a permanent set substantially that of the true diameter of the container thereby reforming the out-of-round container into a truly round container, and means for shifting said rollers out of operative position by moving them away from said driving and truing wheels for the introduction of a container to be trued and for the discharge of a trued container.

JOHN DRYGULSKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 241,424 Rolston May 10, 1881 409,021 Davis Aug. 13, 1889 649,908 Brophy May 22, 1910 1,071,945 Moon Sept. 2, 1913 1,113,196 Conover Oct. 13, 1914 1,548,731 Mirfield Aug. 4, 1925 2,263,022 Urschel Nov. 18, 1941 

